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Jay Hughes, a freshman lawmaker from Oxford, has staked much of his run for lieutenant governor on improving public education in Mississippi.

In a sit-down interview with the Clarion Ledger, Hughes recalled that when he was an alderman for the city of Oxford, he donated his salary to the local public schools.

“You know there was a country song I remember that said, 'I was country when country wasn’t cool. I’ve been talking about teacher pay raises and filing bills since the day I started running (for the Legislature)," Hughes said. "Conveniently my opponent and everyone else discovered public schools in 2019."

Miss. state representative Jay Hughes sits in the editorial boardroom of the Clarion Ledger during an interview Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 during his campaign for LTt. Ggovernor of Mississippi.(Photo: Sarah Warnock, Clarion Ledger)

Hughes, a Democrat, has made public schools his number one issue, noting that he's filed bills to raise teacher pay in the past, but those bills died.

Unlike other politicians running for statewide office, Hughes did not want to give a specific dollar amount for teacher pay raises, though he pointed out that one bill he filed had a $4,000 raise for teachers.

“I’m not going to give an arbitrary number because I think it would be pandering. I think it would be without sufficient information, and without knowing what the budget numbers will allow," Hughes said. "It wouldn’t be a number that would bankrupt the state.”

Hughes also suggested that some teachers receive different raises based on the needs of particular communities.

“We also need to take into consideration bonus pay or additional type pay to get people into districts that are under-performing or may not have much in terms of infrastructure, but where we need teachers more than ever," he said.

Hughes also wants to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, a funding formula that has only been fully funded twice since its creation in the 1990s. Under the current formula, full funding would cost hundreds of millions dollars more, the Associated Press reported.

“We’re going to modify it and fully fund it. There are deficiencies. It isn’t perfect. But you don’t need to completely terminate it," Hughes said.“There’s no disagreement between any political party that it costs more to educate high poverty children, special needs children, and English language learners.”

To pay for his education programs, Hughes said he wants to cut wasteful spending and also use money generated by the state's new lottery, much of which is slated to go toward infrastructure.

“The lottery proceeds do not really go to schools. That was an illusion," Hughes said. "...It says anything over $80 million goes to the schools, but there’s no realistic chance that we’re going to — as one of the last state in the country — exceed $80 million a year.”